This time a year ago, there was a clear question in Saints camp: Is either kicking competition for real?
In hindsight the answer was very much yes. Longstanding kicker Wil Lutz and punter Blake Gillikin were ousted in favor of UDFAs Blake Grupe and Lou Hedley, a decision that fairly questioned throughout something of an up-and-down rookie season by both players.
It's only natural that we ask the question again, this time around with international kicker Charlie Smyth and former Vanderbilt punter Matthew Hayball providing the competition.
"I think there’s real competition for a majority of the jobs on our team," head coach Dennis Allen said, noting that while Smyth likely has a stronger leg, consistency is a question.
"My hope is that I’m gonna see a nice jump between last year to this year from Blake Grupe, because I think he’s extremely talented, so I think we’ve just got to let this thing play out," he continued. "There’s a long way before we get to the beginning of the season and we won’t make any judgements right now. We’ll let it play out.”
Smyth was spotted hitting from more than 60 yards away during minicamp, but he lacked some consistency in the more established drills. He went 4-7 on kicks we saw during the final session of OTAs while battling some right to left wind. One miss went right, another went left. Several of the makes were flirting with the edges. He went 5-6 during minicamp, with his lone miss coming to the right from about 40 yards out. It's clear he's still dialing things in a bit.
Grupe didn't miss, at least on kicks with media present, and a majority were directly down the middle, showcasing the consistency that helped him win the job a year ago. His rookie season was solid and even included a Special Teams Player of the Week award after a pair of kicks from 50-plus in a shutout win over the Patriots in Week 5. There were difficult moments, though. He had a pair of misses from inside 30 yards that would be deemed unacceptable, though a perfect mark on PATs (40-40), would indicate whatever caused those misses can be corrected. He also missed wide right on a 4x-yard opportunity that would've given the Saints the lead with just over a minute left during a loss to the Packers.
In all, here are his stats and how they stood up against Lutz, who joined former Saints head coach Sean Payton in Denver:
- Grupe : 30-37 (81%) ... 50-plus 6-9; PATs 40-40
- Lutz : 30-34 (88.2%) ... 50-plus 3-5; PATs 29-31
On the year Grupe missed 7 times, while Lutz missed 6 (including extra points) on 12 fewer attempts. Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi made it clear that those are numbers the team could live with, particularly from a rookie who should be expected to keep improving.
"You’ve got a guy that’s been through the process already," Rizzi said. "There’s nothing that he hasn’t been through yet. ... They got a chance to get a little rest and they’ve kind of been working on the things they felt like they needed to work on the most and so I see both those guys doing that out here. Obviously everyone talks about that big jump from Year 1 to Year 2. I think we’ll see that out of both guys this year.”
On the other side of the specialist equation is Hedley, a player who logged some significant criticism himself. The first number to consider is 15, with Hedley changing his jersey after wearing No. 39 in his rookie season.
Punter stats are much more difficult to track and analyze, but the most commonly viewed number in punter success is net yards (gross punting yardage minus return yardage). Hedley's total of 39.8 ranked 28th among punters with at least 40 kicks. Gillikin, who latched on with the Cardinals, ranked No. 8 with a total of 43.6.
While suboptimal, that figure is misleading in a few ways, Rizzi said. For one thing, the Saints went into the season with the goal of eliminating return yards. That mission would be considered a resounding success, with Hedley's total return yards sitting No. 2 in the NFL at 163, and his return yards per punt average (2.17) ranking No. 1.
Hedley also ranked No. 5 in punts downed inside the 20 (31), a figure that Rizzi points to as a sign that the net yardage is misleading for a specific reason.
"A lot has to do with where we’re punting the ball from," Rizzi said. "You’d be surprised at how many times last year, or maybe not, how many times we punted the ball between the 40s."
The numbers certainly do bear out that idea. While a kick from the 40 would still represent an opportunity for a solid net kick, 15 of Hedley's 75 punts (20%) came on the opposing side of the field. Of those attempts, four went into the end zone, while seven were downed inside the 10. Opinions can vary on the relative success of those picks, but none would be helpful in a net punting conversation. In total 21 of Hedley's punts (28%) were kicked from beyond his team's 45 yard line, while 50 came from the 11-45
Of Hedley's kicks, 50 (66%) came from between his team's 10 and 45 yard lines. Jame Gillan for perspective, a similar style kicker for the Giants, attempted 95 kicks on the season. For Gillan, 19 of his attempts (20%) came beyond his 45, while 73 (77%) came between the 11 and 45. Gillan's net average of 42.3 ranked No. 13 among punters.
Still, the numbers don't explain everything. Even removing Hedley's punts from beyond the 40, his net figure remains middle of the pack at 41.9. Going further and looking at just the 11 attempts from the 11-20 yard lines -- a prime area for long kicks -- his net drops to 41.5.
But that's where the improvement is expected to come after an offseason of work, and what we've seen to some extent throughout the early camp practices.
"When we really need to flip the field, we need to be able to flip the field," Allen said. "So I think that was a point of emphasis for Lou, you know, during the offseason, and I think we’re seeing some of the fruits of that labor out here."
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